


In the Passenger Seat

by Numerix



Category: K-pop, TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, squint for seulgi x momo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 05:30:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13675227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Numerix/pseuds/Numerix
Summary: Dahyun needs a ride home. Lucky for her, Mina has a car.





	In the Passenger Seat

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I wrote a Mihyun oneshot for valentine's day. I couldn't resist.

“Momo Momo Momo. You can't do this to me.” Her words echo in the nearly empty hallway, though lucky for her, everyone else is too busy either talking to their friends or cleaning up.

 

Dahyun looks to Chaeyoung, wearing a brave face hiding a worried one right under. She hears her breathe on the other line, short, deep intakes of air that she knows calms Momo's nerves. She hates putting the girl in this situation.

 

“I'm sorry, but you know how Seulgi is sometimes. A girl can only be so patient and she's waited long enough.”

 

“But how are Chaeyoung and I going to get home, Momo? You were our ride.” She doesn't mean to make her feel guilty either. Though unintentional, perhaps it's necessary. She and Chaeyoung need to be home before curfew or that's goodbye to their music for a week. And knowing Kim Dahyun, music is her life.

 

“Why don't you ask someone there? At least one of them has to have a car, right?” Momo suggests.

 

“Momo.”

 

“Try Mina.” At that her face grows pale, a shade of white Chaeyoung has never seen before on the girl.

 

It prompts her to ask if she's okay, which Dahyun quickly dismisses as nothing more than a late reaction to something she ate earlier.

 

“We'll just take a cab. You got money, Chaeng?”

 

She motions to show her her empty pockets and the time on her wristwatch. Dahyun stifles a laugh at her friend’s cheesiness, which she appreciates with a nod.

 

“Yeah, that’s not happening. I'll ask Mina for you.” Before she could protest, Momo hangs up the phone and she’s left with Momo’s face on the screen of her phone.

 

Chaeyoung approaches her with a quizzical look on her face. Dahyun, in all of her dramatic glory, turns her head to the beauty that was Myoui Mina--Kim Dahyun’s long-time crush--whose phone is bright with Momo’s contact photo. Chaeyoung reads enough to know that this will be a stressful ride for her best friend, so she draws patterns on the girl’s back and reassures her that it’ll be okay. Dahyun half-believes and half-hopes that’s true.

  
  
 

Mina puts the gear to reverse and backs out of the parking space the three of them nearly struggled to get to. On a good day, they would have ran. But the snow hindered any such activity, as well as Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s music equipment. In hindsight, perhaps they should have just waited for Mina to drive up to the front of the campus.

 

Mina tells her that they should do that next time, which colors Dahyun’s pale face lighter and a hotter-white she did not think possible.

 

“You guys did well tonight. I enjoyed your performance immensely,” Mina fills the silence five minutes into the drive.

 

Chaeyoung answers because she’s sure Dahyun’s died at least eight times during the drive. Still, she’s amused by the whole spectacle. “Thank you, Mina-unnie.”

 

“Hey, wane back on the honorifics here. We’ve known each other long enough, so Mina will suffice.”

 

“Mina,” Dahyun whispers. She surprises herself and Chaeyoung who is trying--failing--to not laugh in the backseat. She tries to hide her embarrassed face in the shadows.

 

The girl in the driver’s seat doesn’t seem to notice though as she goes down the winding road to Chaeyoung’s street.

 

Silence starts to settle once again until Chaeyoung asks, “Can you tell me why again am I in the backseat?”

 

Instinct takes over as Dahyun teases, “Because you’re still a baby.”

 

She can see her best friend pout in the rearview mirror. “I’m only a year younger.”

 

“Your legs can’t reach the floor of the car.”

 

“That’s low, Dahyun.”

 

Without a pause, “You’re low.”

 

Her heart melts in the passenger seat of Mina’s car as her ears are invaded by the girls addicting laughs. It’s contagious enough that Dahyun’s awkward smile dissipates into the air as she joins her while Chaeyoung still adorably pouts in the backseat. Eventually, she laughs with them after she smacks her best friend’s shoulder, earning an ouch and a sorry from her.

 

They arrive at Chaeyoung’s house when they are greeted by her brother who offers to carry her sound system. She bids Mina and Dahyun goodbye as she and her brother walk to the front door. Mina insists that she’ll wait until she’s safely inside before leaving, which also upturns Dahyun’s stomach at her friendly gesture.

 

“That was really nice of you,” Dahyun compliments.

 

“I’m just being a decent human being.”

 

Dahyun gives her a nod of approval and notices that they’re almost at her house. She suddenly feels a sharp pain in her stomach and a sense of denial approaching her.

 

They talk about how school is going for them and which teachers they prefer to which the older gives her advice on trying to land her former calculus teacher for next year, claiming that his homework is hard but his tests are easy. They discuss future plans of their music club and other concerts they will be holding for fundraisers. Mina complains about how the club’s officers are barely there to which Dahyun wonders out loud why she’s not the president. Mina tells her that she prefers being behind the scenes and Dahyun lets the thought go. She knows all too well about stage fright.

 

Her eyes constantly avert to the time on the radio throughout the ride that the minutes turn into seconds and she’s suddenly at home.

 

“We should do this next time, Dahyunie.”

 

She smiles at the cute nickname as she nods her agreement. Mina waits in her car until Dahyun waves her goodbye from the window inside. She swears she saw her blush in the shadows.

  
  
 

It’s not long before Mina becomes Dahyun’s personal chauffeur though Dahyun refuses to call her that while Mina insists. Chaeyoung sometimes comes along but since they’re both officers of the club, they stay an hour longer than Chaeyoung does.

 

It starts one day after Chaeyoung catches a ride with Momo. Momo used to drive them a lot but her balancing act of school, work, and relationship requires her to leave earlier than Dahyun. She apologizes once again then suggests she asks Mina for another ride. Chaeyoung pities the girl who goes ghost-white at every interaction she has with her obvious crush.

 

“Okay, I’ll ask her.” At that, she tells them goodbye and walks back into the school.

 

She sees the short-haired beauty lugging a cello case with a folder of music sheets under her armpit so she immediately rushes to her side to ease some of the burdens. Mina thanks her then opens the door to the room they store the instruments for the school orchestra. Dahyun still admits to being widely impressed with the school’s music program, which brings a soft smile on Mina’s face.

 

“Mr. Park is really adamant that we keep this music suite in shape considering how hard he had to fight for our school to even have a separate budget for music.” They enter his classroom where Mina organizes the folders on the desk then places them inside the cabinet drawers.

 

Dahyun joins in the process and arranges the chairs Mr. Park always liked it. “He fought well.”

 

“It was a hard year for us when we discovered that the music rooms had been flooded. It was especially difficult for him. Music is his life.” She walks with effortless grace to the piano, a key and padlock in hand.

 

“I guess Mr. Park and I have something in common.” Dahyun finishes so she walks back to the entrance.

 

Mina also finishes and approaches her with a smile that sends shivers down Dahyun’s back. “You need a ride home?”

 

The younger nods and her senior puts up her arm for her to hold on to as she leads them out of the school and to her car.

  
  
 

They sing at the top of their lungs to Perfect by Ed Sheeran. She enjoys the driver’s soothing voice and would prefer to listen to them rather than out-perform her but the girl is known for her dramatic flare, so she naturally sings--screams--with her.

 

They’re not sure what part of the song they’re singing since all discernible words disappeared from their tongues when Dahyun’s voice crack that elicited a laugh from Mina, then later herself.

 

“Jihyo would give anything to see me sing this song,” she stops.

 

She’s still reeling from her laughing fit, wiping tears on her face. “Why?” she manages to ask.

 

“Because I hate it. And whenever it comes on the radio, I always turn the volume down.” The song changes that neither Mina nor Dahyun recognizes.

 

“And what does she do?” She’s genuinely curious.

 

She turns her head to her right blind spot and nearly bumps her nose with Dahyun’s. Dahyun hadn’t realized she was that close to the girl, so she pulls back a bit to giver her room to maneuver a lane change. “She just glares at me.”

 

“But you still know it,” the junior points out.

 

Mina admits her own hypocrisy then explains, “That's because it's actually a good song. Just overplayed though.”

 

Dahyun learns a lot about Mina during their car rides. A perfect image is what Dahyun built of her when she first realized she liked her. It was hard to discard that image when nearly everyone she knew only had great things to say about the American-born Japanese. She finds herself falling a bit more--but she convinces herself it’s only an image so she prepares herself for when the image shatters.

 

What she didn’t prepare for was how this image was close to emulating the real Mina. She finds during their car rides that Mina is a great as people say she is, she is as funny as Momo claims she is, she is as shy as she thought to be, and she is a beautiful as everyone describes her to be. She felt giddy knowing that Mina’s image is exactly the person she is.

 

Still, she wants to get rid of that image. So bit by bit, car ride after car ride, chat after chat, the image tears itself into pieces and Dahyun feels relieved looking and knowing the girl through fresher eyes. A whole new dimension opens up for Dahyun, there in the passenger seat of Mina’s car.

  
  
 

Their relationship becomes more than car rides when Dahyun invites Mina to Irene’s Valentine’s Day Party.

 

“Woah, I didn’t know you knew royalty,” Mina jokes as they knock on the door--though mansion would be a better word for it.

 

“I have some tricks up my sleeve.” Dahyun proceeds to roll up her sleeves, which she immediately regrets after when the cold air hits her bare skin.

 

Mina can only laugh. “Impressive.”

 

“It was Nayeon-unnie who was invited actually but she asked if I could come. Well, if we could all come actually. Momo and Chaeyoung should be there now.”

 

“Did I ever tell you that Nayeon and I had a brief rivalry our first year?”

 

She amuses herself with the thought of a quiet Mina “fighting” with the loud Nayeon. Mina has a sharp tongue, that she can’t deny after receiving many rapid hits from the girl, but it’s nearly impossible to see her go up against Nayeon. “I can’t say that you have. Tell me about it.”

 

“It was really stupid. We were both fighting for Momo’s affection.”

 

Dahyun’s smile subsides and the pit in her stomach falls flat to the bottom. She can’t explain why she feels this way, though to some degree she knows exactly why.

 

Her smile returns when Irene opens the door to greet them then lead them inside. Irene thanks the two of them for coming and informs them that Nayeon is in the kitchen shamelessly flirting with any girl that comes her way.

 

“That’s our Im Nayeon,” Mina quips.

  
  
 

Chaeyoung notices that Dahyun isn’t enjoying the party. She sits with her on the bottom of the staircase, peering at her phone to check what the girl’s doing. The screen shines a bright number--too many numbers, in fact, for a tipsy Chaeyoung to notice.

 

Dahyun notices her dazed best friend over her shoulder. “Momo’s going to kill you for drinking even a sip, you know that, right?”

 

She lowers her head down to her friend’s shoulder as she whispers, “Let her kill me.”

 

“But then who will love me when you’re dead?” She pets her head softly.

 

“There’s always Mina.”

 

And of course, the subject she’s been avoiding escapes the lips of her best friend who knows too much. Even in her condition, she knows Dahyun all too well. “I don’t think so.”

 

“Why not?”

 

Dahyun shrugs her shoulder and returns to her game. She makes a short comment that Mina easily achieves a perfect score on these kinds of games and relays her envy for the girl’s near perfection.

 

“You’re being an idiot, Kim Dahyun, you know that, right?”

 

She nods her head as her friend dozes off. They don’t go home with Mina that night.

  
  
  
 

She can’t avoid Mina forever. She’s everywhere in school, an active volunteer since her sophomore year. Dahyun recalls Mina telling her about all the work she wants to do in high school and after high school. She falls at that, too.

 

Mina confronts about how she’s been ignoring her ever since the party. Dahyun tries to evade her questions by making random comments about the weather.

 

“The weather is indeed nice, Dahyun, but that’s not what I asked you.”

 

“Someone once said that you do not answer questions but answer the questions you want to be asked.” She smiles at her own cleverness.

 

For the first time in their entire relationship, Mina is perplexed by the girl and pinches her nose bridge to clear her thoughts.

 

“I’m sorry. Whatever I did to you, I’m really sorry. I miss going home with you.”

 

It’s so easy to melt when every word Mina is saying is tacked on with honesty and something sweet. It’s so easy when Mina speaks of home as if it’s something they both share. It’s so easy when Dahyun has fallen for this girl several times during their car rides.

 

But it’s hard for her to admit that she’s been fending her off because she’s jealous that Momo used to be the object of her affection. It’s hard for her to accept her apology when she knows she should be in the wrong. It’s hard for her to explain that she likes the girl in front of her so very much.

 

“It really isn’t your fault,” she tells her instead. “I swear.” She apologizes to her before asking if she can still get a ride.

 

Mina more than nods and takes Dahyun’s hands into hers as she leads them to her car.

  
  
 

Momo points out one day that her relationship with Mina seems to be different since she first saw them.

 

“We’re closer as friends now,” Dahyun clarifies.

 

She raises her eyebrow to question the girl, “Are you sure it’s just that? Because I’ve seen how the two of you cling on to each other.”

 

“I’m sure, Momo. If I were to be in a relationship with Mina, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t survive the asking out phase.”

 

They’re in Momo’s car since Mina had to tend to family matters with her brother. She rarely talks about her family, but they’re famous for being incredibly generous which gives Dahyun a clear epiphany as to how they got the music suite. “So that’s why Mina is the treasurer,” she thinks aloud.

 

“You figured out how rich the Myouis are?” Dahyun nods.

 

Momo returns to the previous topic that Dahyun wishes she would just dismiss.”She still gets you nervous?” She’s incredibly understanding when it comes to crushes. She wouldn’t know how to even function in a relationship if it wasn’t for Seulgi’s constant assurances that she’s a wonderful girlfriend.

 

“Not as much. I think I’m over my little crush on her.”

 

Momo scoffs, “Yeah, sure, little.”

  
  
 

Her boldness comes once in a blue moon. Coincidentally enough, that night was ruled by the first blue moon in the year. She thanks the moon for her bravery and says, “I guess that’s why a lot of people fall for you.”

 

Mina scans the road for any incoming cars then steers the wheel left to enter another local road. “What do you mean?” she asks after.

 

Dahyun berates herself for distracting the girl, which is ironic in itself because Mina’s  off-shoulder top is disorganizing all her thoughts. “I don’t know. You’re just a good person. Angel is what comes to mind. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t admitted to at least having a small crush on you.”

 

“Thank you, I guess.” She’s admitted to being afraid to drive but Mina makes it look simple. Then again, she makes everything she does look simple.

 

“I see a lot of people ask you out. I think I saw Jennie come up to you before the club meeting. And at Irene’s party, almost every guy was throwing himself at you.” She promises to herself not to be jealous this time, but there’s still a hint of envy there that she wishes would just go away.

 

“Well, it’s hard to win my affection,” she speaks casually.

 

“So then how does one receive your affection?”

 

“You just have to be Kim Dahyun.”

 

The car pulls into Dahyun’s driveway just in time. Maybe she’s more courageous than she gives herself credit for because rather than say thank you, leave, wave goodbye, then see her another day, she keeps the door close. Instead, she takes off her seatbelt because it’s too tight on her now and she doesn’t want anything to stop her on her spontaneity.

 

Dahyun reaches for Mina’s hand over the gear shift and places it in park. She summons up her remaining courage to face Mina--beautiful, raw, vulnerable, and good. She fell for this girl years ago and is only now coming into fruition--that is if she doesn’t back out.

 

“Can I kiss you?” she asks with a gentleness in her voice she never knew she had. But she’s discovered a lot of things here in Mina’s car as they listen and sing along to songs that are obnoxiously catchy, as they discuss teachers and lessons, as they talk about their friends with only pure admiration in their tone.

 

“Finally,” she replies.

 

Dahyun discovers that Mina’s lips taste sweet on hers and how easily they melt into each other. She discovers Mina has liked her for a long time and has only now found the guts to tell her. She kisses her one more time because everything about her is so addicting that too much might actually be her downfall.

 

But she likes falling, she likes falling for the girl in the driver’s seat. She likes the girl whose company makes her warm and leaves empty pits in her stomach when they’re not going home together. She likes the girl who gives her advice about school, the girl who cheers her on at their music concerts, the girl who stays back to preserve the value of music.

 

Dahyun realizes, in the passenger seat of Mina’s car, that music may be her life, but it’s car rides that brought her to Mina.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment if you liked it, hated it, or somewhere in the middle. I'm expensivemyoui on Twitter if anyone wants to request more stories.


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